Apparently the only thing we can ban effectively is internet pornography. All over Pakistan, teenage boys frantically scour the web, hoping with each new browser refresh that they will be faced with a wall of questionable thumbnails and a gallery of sad people fornicating sadly, only to be met time and time again by a tragic THIS SITE IS RESTRICTED. The effectiveness of the ban on online porn was, no doubt, enhanced by the hard work and dedication shown by a teenage boy who gave PTCL a list of over 780,000 websites that he claims to have personally checked. For a 15-year-old to have done so without being reduced to a smoldering husk is, no doubt, some kind of epic feat that defies human physiology. Unfortunately, what he has accomplished so proudly at 15, he will come to regret deeply when he is 18. History will remember him as one of the greatest villains mankind has ever known and only in his later years will he truly appreciate the damage that he has wrought. Soon, teenage boys will begin to run amok, leaving devastation in their wake. They are not equipped to deal with a world in which they have to make do with imagination alone. The effectiveness of this ban could truly cripple their minds and bodies.

Unfortunately, it’s this kind of efficiency that is lacking in the ban on extremist organisations. Maybe the government should hire that 15-year-old with the burning retinas to compile a new list, this one showing all the terrorist groups that we have failed to ban in anything resembling an effective manner. Apparently, for groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP), all it took to dodge that embargo on their existence was a simple change of name. Retitled the Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, they continue to operate openly, even announcing publicly that deep down they are still Sipah-e-Sahaba. They might as well have all just put on large spectacles and changed their hairstyles, given how easily the authorities were convinced of their new identity. This is the same organisation that gave birth to not just the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, but is also considered the parent of Jaish-e-Mohammed and most likely the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. That is one poisoned womb that disgorged three children who are intent on making their parents proud. Instead of sitting the SSP leadership down and discussing family planning and responsible parenthood techniques, we are simply standing by and watching as it continues to raise those children on a diet of extremism and violence.

Rehman Malik, apparently stealing a page from the PTI’s playbook, has declared his intent to consider a dialogue with banned groups before revising the current list. The PTI justifies its association with extremists as the first step in a negotiation much in the same way that America is talking to the Taliban. Because, you know, America clearly knows what it is doing in that regard and has such a wonderfully proven track record of successes in the whole war on terror. When you justify your decisions as being the same as those made by a country that is not yet done punishing the Afghans for what the Saudis did, you might need to reconsider your motivations. Rehman Malik, meanwhile, has announced that talks will happen only if these organisations close down their militant wings. This in a country where every major political party wields a militant wing of its own. Although, all the extremist groups need to do is just change the name from ‘Militant Wing’ to ‘Shiny Happy Smiley Wing.’ Apparently, it’s all you need to do to fool people here.

All of which goes to prove — that in Pakistan — it is easier to commit terrorism and get away with it than to watch some porn. At least, until the porn sites catch on and rename themselves too.

Reader Comments (95)

Why is it so agonizing to people if porn is being ban? you want it not to be banned? There were times when people had no access to porn at all (creation of Pakistan and following few decades) but I didn’t see any disasters happen.

i dont know whats gone wrong with all of us…how can anyone justify pornography and this is that young boys will run amok because they are not getting their daily dose of porn….most of the muslim countries porn is banned and i have heard no where such justification,also such things are prohibited in islam so how can you justify it…Recommend

Our national priorities
religous fancism but no pornography
religious freedom but no ahmadis,hindus,christians,shias,bralvis
madrassas but no co education
honor killings but no love marriages
Karina,Angelina but no Veenas,Meeras

It is so depressing to note that people are killing the “purpose of this article” by only talking about Porn. One may not agree with the author on his opinions about banning of porn sites, yet one should highly appreciate the author’s sense of deep concern on banning “terrorist outfits” that have made merely superficial and cosmetic changes and are still carrying on malicious activities.

I feel so sorry for the writer that he has not been able to reach any of the 780,000 websites, maybe including those he is a maybe a paid member of. Loss of access to something one has paid for is indeed enraging enough that he resorted to comparing apples and meteors. His lie of arguments went like this: If the moon is round where is the cat?

why you dont wanna mention shia militant groups and most troublling thing in G,B Govt trying
to do taking out Names of Sahaba from the school books what u gonna say for that sami sahab is not it shame. and ptcl doing its not bad idea would u like to see your chidren to watch these distrupt insanity acts of civilized fisrt world.

is the Porn banning a possible over reaction to Google search report where Pakistan earned number 1 in Porn searches?
I am all for banning Porn for kids under 12 and restricted access for 13 -18 age group , but for Adults too!!! Blanket ban is too silly

Porn is a reflection of 1) what people actually do in private and 2) what they would have loved to do if they had half a chance.So one is physical while the other is mental, but both are human.So what’s wrong in watching it?

I don’t understand the reason of liberal people going after porn ban. Porn is like heroin, it addicts you, it changes your behaviour in life and actually destroys you and your relationships. why being angry on porn ban while not being angry on drug bans? I think this writer is planning to run amok because he is not going to get his daily dose of porn

Wehshi Economics:
Internet pornography ban could be a positive for the local economy; potential to revive jobs that have lost validity namely:
– old school video shop walay bhai
– people skilled with vcp/vcr repair
hope the admirers are still holding on to the vhs cachee fingers crossed

“History will remember him as one of the greatest villains mankind has ever known and only in his later years will he truly appreciate the damage that he has wrought. Soon, teenage boys will begin to run amok, leaving devastation in their wake.”

@Umer:
My dear Umer, Indonesia is not a free country, you cant profess Shai Islam in that country, only Shafi Islam is allowed, i believe this does not ammount to freedom. if they do this to Muslims what about the rest.

why are all the “liberal bashers” always so angry?
Also why do they never really get what the article is about. This is actually not an article about porn. I hate to disappoint you guys but that was in context to the fact that if we think access to porn is the most objectionable thing in our society currently , then we will never be able to concentrate on the actual problems.
Why cant we first ban hate, then violence, and the root causes of these evils.
Having said that i personally do agree with banning access to pornographic websites, but it shouldnt be number one on the to -do list.

Most of the comments to this thought provoking article seem to have missed the point. It’s not about the rightness or wrogness of the porn ban. It’s about our nation’s priorities and our ability to face our greatest challanges.

Ok i got the point and the reason for this article. But still I would like to ask a question here since its some how little related to this,
why do people think porn web sites are the only source for porn?
There are Cyber cafes with porn on their Computers, guys pay for the time they use pc and they can watch unlimited porn there.
Secondly What about Torrents? All type of Porn is available on Porn and P2P networks. Any one with access to internet can download it.
its not as easy as banning certain domain names.. Some solid and consistent policies & departments should be there who can keep this so called BAN intact. Otherwise its of no use…

Good job 15 yr old! This move could back-fire, lack of porn may cause frustration to the porn-lovers which may lead to bitter consequences. Abduction, Rape, etc etc is so common in Pakistan. I believe banning porn might add to such crimes, in some regions. I am not against the ban, but I am trying to look at the bigger picture. So, my gift for the disappointed porn lovers: Download “HotSpot shield” and ENJOY! :D

Its not that access to porn should be allowed, but the point is that there are other serious issues in our country that needs honest attention and intentions for resolution. Also porn or no porn the technology is growing so big by each passing second that restricting infomation is a going to be impossible. A very well written article my friend, specially the comparison. My advise to you would be to use simpler english, so that people like rehman malilk who publically pronounces security as “Sacuuty” should at least understand what we are saying. Good job ….

This is complete trash. You want vulgarity to be promoted??? i m not an extremist but i believe this restriction will help different new internet users to refrain from porn. Lets not criticize that 15 year boy lets admire his determination. those who explore such sites don’t keep a record, what he did was on purpose…Hats off to him… Recommend

@Daniyal Hasan: I don’t want vulgarity to be promoted but the writer makes a point here by saying:
“All of which goes to prove — that in Pakistan — it is easier to commit terrorism and get away with it than to watch some porn. At least, until the porn sites catch on and rename themselves too.”

@daniyal hasan yeah im not promoting it neither am i against it, but they couldve gotten the job done by an adult its not like the 15 yr old boy was the only person on earth to do the job..that is jsut stupid to defend something as careless as that on behalf of “doing good” its just stupid and irresponsible and hypocritical as well as if to say ke the whole country cant watch porn even if theyre adults but a 15yr old kid can? that does not justify anything, if its wrong its wrong for everyone, INCLUDING the child and ESPECIALLY since he’s a minor

It’s called PRIORITIZING. Banning porn is fine, commendable even. But perhaps this ridiculous farce of a government should first focus on more pressing matters, such as, I don’t know, TERRORISM?!!! How narrow-minded and typical, posing strawman arguments. Grow up.

could the conservatives please tell me why it is any of your business if i like porn or vulgarity? even if it is bad for me,(which it is not and I can say with certainty) i really don’t care. The same way someone who smokes or drinks doesn’t care. How is it anyone’s business or concern? This whole country is falling to pieces and all you want to do it butt in on my private life. whats it to you? You imagine yourself as heroes but really you are just obnoxious and nosy. I like vulgarity and rude behavior and your distaste makes me want it more.You’ve run this country into the ground with your holier than thou moral policing and it’s driven everyone crazy. Time to loosen up and have some fun. Frankly Pakistan needs more of it.

There is already so much repressed sexual tension in Pakistan. We need to loosen up as a country instead of caring about such stupid things. Make sheraab and hasheesh legal, legalize porn and give us some freedom of speech for gods sake. This is the most boring country in history. Conservitives just want everyone to be exactly like them. Dull and lifeless while sipping their cold chai and talking about the politician of the month or the weather or some stupid conspiracy. ITS BORING. Pakistan has a huge population of Young people who want to go out and explore their dreams and passions. We don’t want any mommy-daddies and fuddy duddies holding us back

Porn is addictive, and can have disastrous social and psychological effects. Excessive exposure to porn, in my opinion, puts extra pressure on body’s natural arousal mechanism. If reached addiction levels it may cause impotence and prostate problems.

It affects your confidence level, and due to unnecessary agitation of male hormones it may be a cause for hair loss. Porn leads to constant HP which drops testosterone level in your body and you feel less motivated to approach women naturally. It may even destroy your love life because a drop in testosterone level will make her appear uglier to you.

how about actual scientific facts instead? they have a bit more validity than someones opinion. For example studies show porn actually reduces violent crimehttp://www.slate.com/articles/arts/everydayeconomics/2006/10/howthewebprevents_rape.html

@Ali Tanoli:
Sir its our right to teach our children our history not what u want us to study. and u said shia millitant groups, how about naming them?????
dear friend minority does not threaten the majority and its the other way round!!!!

Yes, why on Earth would we want consenting adults to watch other consenting adults fornicating. Is it worth telling the anti-porn zealots that they, too, have genitals, or will that rob them of their innocence? Also, while we are at it, we might as well tell them babies aren’t delivered by storks, and the ground isn’t made of marshmallows.

Wait a second, what does a ban on pornography have ANYTHING to do with TTP, war, and terrorism? Where is the parallel? Where is the link? What’s up with liberals brushing everything moral with the same brush as ‘terrorism’? What a ridiculous argument! My my my, are we at ET running out of sane arguments? How can any professional editor publish such nonsense? Are big words and the fancy usage of the English language the only criteria ET judges by? Or does it only have to liberal fantasies? I’m appalled, frankly. Recommend

@Elie Khan
Yes I agree in Toto. Lets do some arithmetic here. Average time to locate/find the existence of a website, appreciate the content and copy down the URL address, say 2 minutes even by modest assumptions. In 1 hour he would be able to locate and copy down 30 addresses. in 24 hours/1 day 720 address. In other words it would take him almost 3 years without any break or sleep to copy down 780000 websites. And even quarter way through he would become insane after going through the websites and its content. I personally doubt his claim. I would wish that he explain the way he went about doing the job. I am a rationalist by thought by the way.
Rgds

Impressive and quite eloquent writing. but I think there is no harm in banning the porn site which has poison our society so much. yes not only the website but the terrorist organisation must be banned. best thing to fight against any one is education, give education to the people surely you will get success without bannig.

Lol @ the writer.
Are you implying that you would encourage your children to watch porn and become addict to prevent them from running amok.
And someone here mentioned that we should first stoop the violence and then root out it’s cause. How can you possibly stop anything if you don’t stop it from the grass root level from THE BEGINNING?
And if the real purpose of this article was to highlight the mismatch in our government’s priorities then wrong example. You want to convince the reader,eh? Then you’ve gotta be spot on. Besides, banning porns MUST be our top priority because it’s leading our youth astray. Not that it should be the ONLY priority, but you have got to tackle the problems simultaneously.

You mean to tell me that porn sites are banned in Pakistan? What is the point in having an internet connection at all?? What will happen to Pakistan’s world record that they have been holding for the last 4 years of being the No.1 country when it comes to searching for porn? This young boy has single-handedly made internet obsolete.

Why dont you guys quit complaining… its good to ban porn for the younger teens. then their life might not revolve around it.
for the adults its not an issue at all .. the PTA can ban the sites but they cant ban torrent websites and torrent downloading clients like utorrent and bittorrent.
so why dont you guys stop wasting time on such ridiculous topics and write something about the more important stuff…..

Porn is something that teenagers do because they are not allowed outside of their homes due to ever increasing crime, kidnappings, drugs and all the other sh!t that is happening. Plus even if they are allowed, they don’t have any recreational activities to do or places to go, just go for a drive around the streets of Pakistan on Sunday and you’ll see how many young men are playing Cricket or Football on streets without the care for their own lives. Porn and things like it have become a source of recreation and enjoyment for our youth.

Its a good strive to ban such websites,but the problem is that such websites can be accessed through proxy by pass.Moreover,if the teenage boys will not get this,then they will shift to mobile chatting with girls then dating them and in exception cases having phone sex.In this way the problem will get more worse therefore it is appropriate to reopen porn sites.

Sir, isn’t it better that marriages should be carried out early? So that the mind can get off this porn and stuff. I mean if you try to stop something natural, won’t that nature take over and try to fulfill it’s need the other way???